{"id":209,"date":"2009-07-29T07:28:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-29T14:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=209"},"modified":"2009-07-29T07:28:00","modified_gmt":"2009-07-29T14:28:00","slug":"americas-female-middle-distance-runners-step-up-their-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=209","title":{"rendered":"America&#8217;s Female Middle Distance Runners Step Up Their Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=anna willard&#038;iid=5578889\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/9\/0\/5\/4\/AVIVA_London_Grand_ab5a.jpg?resize=380%2C550\" width=\"380\" height=\"550\"  border=\"0\" alt=\"AVIVA London Grand Prix - Day Two\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s been a while since we&#8217;ve headed towards a Major and I&#8217;ve felt we had a real shot at a medal in the middle distances on the women&#8217;s side. Not since Jearl Miles Clark in the 800 in the late 90&#8217;s and Suzy Favor Hamilton in the 1500 at the start of this decade have we really had the talent to make an impact internationally. <\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s changed in a big way in 2009! We got our first glimpse at the Prefontaine Classic where Jenny Barringer just missed victory by.01 while breaking the 4 minute barrier in the 1500 (3:59.90). Behind her we also saw outstanding runs by Anna Willard (4:01.44) and Christin Wurth Thomas (4:01.72). We also watched Maggie Vessey come from way back in the field for an upset win in the 800 in 2:00.18. Her stretch run showing that she had what it would take to run under 2 minutes.  <\/p>\n<p>They showed they had talent in Eugene, but Europe loomed large come summer, as success has been a rare commodity for US middle distance runners on the other side of The Pond. But this year has been different. Anna Willard got an 800 win in Paris at 1:58.80. Christin Wurth Thomas ran second in Rome and broke the 4 minute barrier in the 1500 with her 3:59.98 run. And just yesterday Maggie Vessey shocked the 800 field in Monaco with her 1:57.83 victory.<\/p>\n<p>On the heels of Shannon Rowbury&#8217;s emergence last year  &#8211; 4:00.33 and ranked #6 in the world in the 1500 &#8211; suddenly we have not one, not two, but FIVE young ladies that can truly compete on the world stage over 800 and 1500 meters!<\/p>\n<p>We will see in a few weeks just how well they do in Berlin. But the one thing they all seem to have in common is a very strong competitive spirit. So whether they do well at Worlds or it ends up being a &#8220;learning experience&#8221;, I am confident that we have a bright future in store with these young ladies. It&#8217;s been a long time coming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s been a while since we&#8217;ve headed towards a Major and I&#8217;ve felt we had a real shot at a medal in the middle distances on the women&#8217;s side. Not since Jearl Miles Clark in the 800 in the late 90&#8217;s and Suzy Favor Hamilton in the 1500 at the start of this decade have we really had the talent to make an impact internationally. That&#8217;s changed in a big way in 2009! We got our first glimpse at the Prefontaine Classic where Jenny Barringer just missed victory by.01 while breaking the 4 minute barrier in the 1500 (3:59.90). Behind her we also saw outstanding runs by Anna Willard (4:01.44) and Christin Wurth Thomas (4:01.72). We also watched Maggie Vessey come from way back in the field for an upset win in the 800 in 2:00.18. Her stretch run showing that she had what it would take to run under 2 minutes. They showed they had talent in Eugene, but Europe loomed large come summer, as success has been a rare commodity for US middle distance runners on the other side of The Pond. But this year has been different. Anna Willard got an 800 win in Paris at 1:58.80. Christin Wurth Thomas ran second in Rome and broke the 4 minute barrier in the 1500 with her 3:59.98 run. And just yesterday Maggie Vessey shocked the 800 field in Monaco with her 1:57.83 victory. On the heels of Shannon Rowbury&#8217;s emergence last year &#8211; 4:00.33 and ranked #6 in the world in the 1500 &#8211; suddenly we have not one, not two, but FIVE young ladies that can truly compete on the world stage over 800 and 1500 meters! We will see in a few weeks just how well they do in Berlin. But the one thing they all seem to have in common is a very strong competitive spirit. So whether they do well at Worlds or it ends up being a &#8220;learning experience&#8221;, I am confident that we have a bright future in store with these young ladies. It&#8217;s been a long time coming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-3n","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1107,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1107","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":0},"title":"Interesting Results Out of Stanford","author":"CHill","date":"May 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"On Saturday the speed burners did their thing at Penn and Drake. On Sunday it was the distance runners turn, as several took to the track Sunday evening in the cool weather in Palo Alto. The results produced several world leaders and some interesting stories. First the new world leaders:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Gall\"","block_context":{"text":"Gall","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=gall"},"img":{"alt_text":"Anna Pierce","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Anna-Pierce_thumb.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":234,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=234","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":1},"title":"Post Berlin Review &#8211; US Middle Distance","author":"CHill","date":"September 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Post Berlin Review - US Middle DistanceFor years, actually a couple of decades now, the US hopes in Majors has rested on the shoulders of the sprints, hurdles, and relays. In Berlin, we still garnered the majority of our medals from the speed events. But for the first time in\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"IAAF Golden league","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/2\/a\/a\/c\/IAAF_Golden_league_cce9.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1655,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1655","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":2},"title":"My Favorite All Time Female Middle Distance","author":"CHill","date":"October 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Well I see my female sprinters list raised a few questions. But then the history of women's sprinting is full of superstars, which make trying to come up a with a list of 10 is difficult regardless of the criteria. I\u2019ve found the same to be true when taking a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Decker Slaney\"","block_context":{"text":"Decker Slaney","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=decker-slaney"},"img":{"alt_text":"Me for Blog pic","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Me-for-Blog-pic_thumb1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":368,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=368","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":3},"title":"Middle Distance Runners Continue to Shine in Monaco","author":"CHill","date":"July 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"With no major championship on the docket this season, I keep looking at results as to what they may mean for our chances in Daegu, London and Moscow. From that perspective Monaco was one awesome meet, because everywhere I looked US performers were turning in outstanding performances. And nowhere more\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=368#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jun 27, 2010; Des Moines, IA, USA; Alysia Johnson won the women's 800m in 1:59.87 in the USA Track & Field Championships at Drake Stadium. Photo by Image of Sport Photo via Newscom","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view4.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/9249757\/track-and-field-usa-track\/track-and-field-usa-track.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":978,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=978","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":4},"title":"2012 Outdoor Preview &ndash; Middle Distances","author":"CHill","date":"March 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The middle distance events (800 \/ 1500) should be very interesting this year. There is the potential of a world record, some very competitive women\u2019s events, and the potential for a sweep. Above all, however, I expect them to be very exciting, both during the season as well as in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"1500\"","block_context":{"text":"1500","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=1500"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rudisha","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Rudisha_thumb.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":507,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=507","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":5},"title":"Nationals Preview \u2013 Men &amp; Women\u2019s 1500","author":"CHill","date":"June 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This is an event that always drives me NUTS. Track events are pretty simple \u2013 the fastest man\/woman wins. And in events up through the half mile, that\u2019s pretty much the way the events are run \u2013 the gun goes off and everyone takes off in an attempt to reach\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"image","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lh5.ggpht.com\/-LZbRR2mSem8\/TfzREgrWzaI\/AAAAAAAAAOQ\/uWp6bsw6dyA\/image_thumb%25255B3%25255D.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}